Crafting, fun and friendship

Wednesday, 26 August 2015

My brother and sister in law stayed for a few days last week....the spare bed is in the room where my work table is. Here's a pic while they stayed....

Yep. My brother's camera. Fair enough. But what I'm protecting your eyes from is the corner where, according to my SiL, my brother rested a part of his anatomy and said 'Feature THAT on WOYWW'....!!!! I may never work on that part of my desk ever again...grin.

Well, it might have been his arm...or chin....but I doubt it very much....

See what I've had to put up with since I was a nipper? Oh, I could tell you some stories.......

But it's not all weird, honest. My SiL Jill brought some of her watercolours to show me. She's been following an online course.

Each painting features a different technique...they were all amazing, but the apple and pear were my favourites.

Aren't they good? The apple looks like a photo, it's so realistic. Apparently Jill used upwards of 30 very thin washes of watercolour to achieve the effect, which just goes to show how much more patience she has than me!!

I do have a (sullied) desk to share :-)

I found some 28" zips in Fabricland and am going to cut into some more holiday stash material. If time permits...it's a busy old week ahead.

I volunteer in an Oxfam bookshop in Marlborough and this was donated a couple of weeks ago....

I was tempted for a moment but unfortunately the cover was more interesting than the contents and who wants to be only Slightly Sinister? Much better to be completely OTT, in my opinion :-)

Wednesday, 19 August 2015

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE GOT 'TIL IT'S GONE.....Even though I knew Janet Fairythoughts was very poorly, it was still a shock to get Julia's text today saying that she'd passed away on Sunday. I still can't believe that someone so vital has left us so early......way too early, in fact. From the time that we ambushed her from behind the haberdashery stand where she worked, we got on famously. We met up several times, at the Crops, visiting each other's homes, at C&H Fabrics where she worked.A truly wonderful, generous and loving person...thank you Julia and WOYWW for letting me have the chance to meet her. Blimey, I shall miss her so much. Sending my deepest condolences to her family and friends. RIP Janet, you lovely lady xxxxxx

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to make a couple of slip cases for friends to keep their music stands in. A first for me and I debated how best to do it. The easiest would have been a drawstring bag, but then the strings would most likely get tangled with the rest of the musical gear.

First things first, decide on the fabric.....

This heart/elephant fabric was part of my holiday haul from Shrewsbury and meant for Helen's stand; the other at the far end was for Nigel.

A slightly different angle - also showing the tote bag that Helen wanted.

I found a tutorial on Pinterest for an iPhone case with a flap and velcro closure. Aha, I thought, that's just the ticket....so after some serious upsizing of the pattern (more correctly known as guesswork....cough) this is what I ended up making:

I thought they looked a bit too wide but actually they're perfect for getting the music stand in without snagging.

I'm quite pleased with how they turned out :-)

Keeping on the music theme, Rhys and I ran across some unusual visitors when we went for a stomp around Avebury last week....

This is the Devil's Chair stone...you can sit in a natural hollow and if you turn your head and sing or hum, the stone resonates really weirdly. This large group turned up which included five people who looked as if they came from Peru, complete with beautiful costumes.

They took it in turns to sit in the chair...it was quite bizarre but wonderful to see! I have no idea why they were there but they sure brightened up a Wiltshire Wednesday :-)

And talking of Rhys...the lad did well and has got a place to study Archaeology/Ancient History at Winchester University. I'm so proud of him but will miss him like crazy when he goes......

Wednesday, 12 August 2015

It's been another crazy week at LLJ Towers...some crafting has been done. But I can't show you it yet as it's going to be a prezzy!I was asked to make a tote bag and slip covers for two music stands by Helen, a friend of mine. Red is her favourite colour so I dug out all the fabrics I have with scarlet hues :-)

And Helen chose this for her tote...there was just enough of the fabric....phew!

Topstitching the straps and external/internal pockets. I cut the handles with the bars of colour going horizontally, you get to see more colours that way!And that's as far as the bag making went yesterday.....

I brought my music stand upstairs to draw around it and make a template for the slip cover, but this is as far as I got. The weather is forecast to be appalling on Thursday and into Friday so I'll have a good session then instead. I'll leave you with a sneaky pic taken by my hubby!

My boys gave me two colouring for adults books for my birthday and I am REALLY enjoying doing them. It's quite Zen. Here I am, enjoying a moment of peace, absorbed in the fine detail of Johanna Basford's beautiful illustrations. Ron is supervising, of course.....

Nothing can relax quite like a cat :-) LolShort(ish) from me today....I hope Brownie points are forthcoming!!Have a great week xxx

Wednesday, 5 August 2015

(You have to provide your own sound effects/actions for today's lyric)

(Whistling wind) woooooo oooooooooooooooooooo

(Tumbleweed rolling across the shot) tumble tumble tumble tumble

(Creaky door opening in a Horror style) Creeeeeaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkkk

(Shock, horror) gasp, screeeam

Because my desk is bare!! Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrghghghghghgh

Completely bereft of anything crafted this past week, that is..... Oh sure, there's something cut out that uses up the last of the skull fabric, there's a new button tin (part of Julia's birthday prezzy to me...54 last Saturday, groan...) and a new sewing book from my boys, open at a page that took my fancy.

But that's it....

Oh, ok then, I'll force you to read about some other stuff that's been going on, lol! But it's at your own peril......

It was my birthday the day after the Blue Moon made its appearance.....my boys, future DiL and I went to Salisbury for a mooch and spot of lunch. We window shopped at Franklin's where we spotted this fab display, part of the Magna Carta 800 years celebrations...

It was all so beautifully done!

I loved it and spent ages looking at all the details. There was even a huge pile of the metallic silvery grey yarn needed if ever you fancied making your own chain mail!!

We spotted a couple more Barons that we missed on our visit a couple of weeks ago. This was sponsored by the Trussell Trust (a food bank charity). The detail was quite interesting,

We spent quite a while reading all the words and dedications - I liked this very much.

The following day, Julia and Mr Dunnit came over to ours for a barbeque. She bought me a fab present......

Yep, it's a gallon capacity Kilner jar with a tap, so you can fill it with punch, mulled wine, champagne cocktail or, in this case, strawberry Pimms and have a lot of fun! Definitely for sharing though!!

I think Julia is topping up her glass here while I'm attempting to fill her glass with extra fruit! This was the first drink of the evening but I do look as if I'm concentrating extremely hard indeed!! It was fun :-)

But I leave you with the 3D card that Julia made me next to the beautiful hare card from Shaz Silverwolf......